Moor get back on track in promotion bid

TERENCE MCGEEHAN MOOR travelled to Congleton looking for some kind of redemption after two recent defeats to fellow promotion chasers Aspull and champions elect Winnington Park that temporarily derailed the promotion campaign.

Congleton’s excellent win last week at Dukinfield (a place where Moor simply cannot buy a win) had brought some focus to the squad that this was game was certainly not going to be a walk in the park if the Green Lane boys were going to come away with the points.

With incessant overnight rain the game was moved from the home side’s town centre ground out into the leafy Cheshire countryside to a pitch that belied the overhead conditions.

On arrival the weather was still damp and drizzly but the pitch itself was wide and firm underfoot and with little wind it was to be hoped some expansive rugby may be on offer rather than a typical January tear up between the packs with largely disinterested outside backs mentally planning their summer holidays or thinking of places they’d much rather be.

A frenetic opening 15 minutes saw plenty of action between the forwards with neither side able to find the cutting edge behind the pack to register points until a powerful carry from second row James Ellis looked like he was going all the way until he was stopped just short of the right hand touch line where his good work was carried on by hooker Danny Ireland.

He managed to work his way infield to set the platform for Will Pacey to power his way over from six metres out to register the first score of the day which was converted by skipper Danny Child in his first outing of the season.

With the first score on the doors, Heaton Moor started to take command of the game as their pick and drive game allowed them to move up field at regular occasions.

The home side’s tactics of only using one man to defend a ruck was punished by the Moor pack.

From one such sortie, via the forwards, the platform was set for centre Kingsley Child to make the hard yards before the ball was moved left where the final pass was sent left.

It landed short of wing David Adebo who scooped the ball up on the half volley for an excellent finish in the corner to see Moor into a 12-0 lead with 10 minutes of the half remaining.

The second half saw the home side have the benefit of the slight slope on the pitch.

However, benefit of it they may have had, but use of it they did not make as the home fly half chose to open his box of tricks to bring runners on to the ball rather than play any kind of territory game via the boot.

Despite plentiful possession, the home side barely managed to get in to the Heaton Moor half so dominant was the Moor defence and it came as no surprise when Moor registered their third try of the day from No 8 Ben Jones who powered over from the base of the scrum that neither man nor beast would have stopped.

With a commanding 19-0 lead in the bag and half an hour still to play, Moor went looking for the bonus point.

But try as they might, a combination of excellent home defence and some poor decision making saw the home line un-breached for the remainder of the game.

All in all it was an excellent win for Moor and despite not getting the bonus point, a 19-0 win before the game would have been readily taken.

There were lots of really good performances from the Moor players on the day and it was great to see Danny Child and Matt Hughes back in the team after lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Special mention must go to James Brennan who, despite being a hooker, made his first ever appearance at tight head and helped anchor the Moor scrum for the day.

MOM though has to go to Moor open side Tom Ireland who never missed a tackle all day and who’s industry around the field never allowed the home 10 any space all day.